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India’s 2-1 Test series win over Sri Lanka: Statistical highlights

Under the leadership of Virat Kohli, India defeated Sri Lanka by 2-1.

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Virat Kohli and his young brigade have registered a historical victory for India on the Sri Lankan soil after 22 years © AFP
Virat Kohli (left) and his young brigade have registered a historical victory for India on the Sri Lankan soil after 22 years © AFP

Under the leadership of Virat Kohli, India defeated Sri Lanka by 2-1 in the three-Test series in Sri Lanka. Bharath Seervi lists important statistics and records at the conclusion of the historic series win for India.

Virat Kohli and his young brigade have registered a historical victory for India on the Sri Lankan soil. The team won a Test series in Sri Lanka for the first time in 22 years. The victory is special considering the fact that the side consisted of less experienced players. It is the also India’s first away series win since beating West Indies in 2011. Following are the important statistics and records of the three-match series. Scorecard: India vs Sri Lanka, 3rd Test at Colombo

India’s first series win in Sri Lanka in 22 years

The last time India won a Test series in Sri Lanka was in 1993 under the captaincy of Mohammad Azharuddin. On that occasion India had defeated Sri Lanka 1-0 in a three-Test series. India had won the second Test at SSC, Colombo, while the other two were drawn. Manoj Prabhakar was the Man of the Match for India in that Test.

In these 22 years, India has won Test series in countries like England, West Indies, Pakistan and New Zealand, but never in Sri Lanka. India has at least one Test win in all countries except in Australia and South Africa. The table below lists results of India’s Test series in Sri Lanka. Kumar Sangakkara: 15 batting records of the legend

Year Margin Matches Winner
1985 1-0 3 Sri Lanka
1993 1-0 3 India
1997 0-0 2 Drawn
2001 02-Jan 3 Sri Lanka
2008 02-Jan 3 Sri Lanka
2010 01-Jan 3 Drawn
2015 02-Jan 3 India

Winning a 3- Test series after losing the first Test

India lost the first Test by 63 runs but won the next two Tests by huge margins of 278 runs and 117 runs to clinch the series. For the first time have they won an overseas three-Test series after losing the first Test. Even at home they have done it only once, in the famous 2000-01 Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Australia won the first Test at Wankhede Stadium by 10 wickets, but India pulled off a sensational 171-run victory at Eden Gardens before pulling off a nail-biter at Chepauk by a 2-wicket margin.

Overall, it was the 12th occasion where a team won a three-Test series after losing the first Test. The last to do the same was England against New Zealand in New Zealand in 2007-08. Virat Kohli-KL Rahul, and other high 3rd-wicket partnerships after losing first two wickets

Sri Lanka losing two consecutive Test series at home

Sri Lanka has now lost two consecutive Test series at their own backyard. They suffered a similar defeat of 1-2 by Pakistan two months back. For the first time in 22 years have Sri Lanka lost two consecutive home series. Overall, it was their third such instance. The first two came before 1995.

They had lost their first three Test series played at home: 0-1 (1) against England, 0-1 (1) against Australia and 0-2 (3) against New Zealand between 1982 and 1984. In 1993 they lost 0-1 (3) against India and 0-1 (3) against South Africa. Mayank Agarwal joins Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag and other

Highest opening partnership of the series being of just 15 runs

Astonishingly, the highest opening stand in the series was of 15 runs between Dimuth Karunaratne and Kaushal Silva in the first innings of the first Test at Galle. In fact, there were only four opening stands worth 10 or more runs, and three of them came in the first Test at Galle. Of the 12 opening stands in the series, seven were of below five runs. Still, at least one Indian opener managed to score a century in each of the three Tests.

–          It is the first series of two or more Tests where the highest opening partnership was below 20 runs. The previous lowest was of 22 runs in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy of 1999-00 in Australia.

–          India’s highest opening partnership was 14, the lowest in any series of two or more Tests. The previous lowest ‘highest partnership’ for India in a Test series of two or more Tests was 19 in the 1971 series in England.

–          Sri Lanka has had a few Test series with the highest partnership being less than 15. The lowest is 10, in the 2006 series in England. Ravichandran Ashwin’s 6 for 46: Best bowling figures for India in Sri Lanka

Amit Mishra first Indian to score 150 runs and take 15 wickets in a Test series of 3 or fewer Tests

Amit Mishra took 15 wickets and scored 157 runs. He became the first Indian to score 150 runs and take 15 wickets in a Test series of three of fewer matches. The previous best all-round performance was by Ravichandran Ashwin (121 runs and 22 wickets) against West Indies in India in 2011-12 from three Tests.

Overall, Mishra’s 150 run-15 wicket double is the 15th instance in a series of three or fewer Tests. Ian Botham is the only one to do it more than once; he did it thrice. Imran Khan is the only player to score 200 runs and take 20 wickets in a series of three or fewer Tests: he scored 212 runs and took 21 wickets against England in England in 1982 from three Tests. Dinesh Chandimal: Fastest wicketkeeper to 1,000 Test runs

Ravichandran Ashwin gets fourth Man of the Series award in his 28-matches Test career

Ashwin has played only 28 Tests and has been named Man of the Series four times. Interestingly, India has won five Test series and Ashwin got the Man of the Series award in four of these.

No player has even three Man of the Series awards in as many Tests as Ashwin’s. Saeed Ajmal has three Man of the Series awards from 35 Tests, career while Heath Streak has four from 65.

(Bharath Seervi is a cricket statistician who is obsessed with digging numbers, facts and records related to the game. An active member of Society of Cricket Statisticians of India, he blogs at www.cricketseervistats.blogspot.com. He can be followed on Twitter at @SeerviBharath and on Facebook here)

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